Sea Lions Shoo Away Droves Of Visitors At San Diego's La Jolla Beach [Video]

Two sea lions showed beachgoers who's boss at a beach in San Diego on Friday.

A video of the incident at La Jolla Cove was shared on TikTok and shows the mammals chasing after beachgoers, shooing them away from the water, and then diving back into the ocean.

With its gorgeous bluffs and shimmering waters, the tony San Diego neighborhood of La Jolla has been called the “jewel of Southern California.” People who’ve visited however, might know it as Davy Jones' Bathroom, thanks to a revolting persistent odor of bird and sea lion poop. pic.twitter.com/wGIeiDX5aT
— Neo Jane (@NeoJane8) July 11, 2022

The clip went viral after TikTok user Charlianne Yeyna shared it on her feed Saturday. It amassed more than a million likes and over 8 million views, New York Post reported.

Yeyna told NBC San Diego that it was "really funny" to see "tourists getting blown away by these giant sea lions." She added an amusing background score to the video but people who've seen it are not impressed and are pushing for better safety for the mammals.

California sea lions maintain breeding territories from May through August and their territorial behavior is the most intense from late June to early July, according to Sea World. They are also known to attack humans who get too close during the mating season due to higher levels of hormones in their bodies, which could be the cause of the La Jolla incident.

Yeyna said that the mammals were sleeping just minutes before they began chasing after beachgoers. "The sea lions were sleeping and were just massive on the beach and I was just watching them and this woman got really close to them, like 4 feet away, and was trying to take a photo of it up close, and it just woke up and started chasing everybody," she said.

The video spurred strong reactions from Twitter users. "Sea Lions were there first. La Jolla has failed here, clearly, by allowing people to use it as a swimming hole, when there are other beaches to utilize nearby," a tweet read.

"I grew up in San Diego and those sea lions owned that beach when I was a kid, as they still should!!! There are so many other spots along that part of the area that are just as amazing. Shame on San Diego for allowing this," another user tweeted. "Let's give them space please... We are everywhere, in their homes, their water... Not done!" wrote a third.